Mark Simon in “America will be" (July 2) makes an important point that our Declaration of Independence, like Thomas Jefferson himself, was a work in progress. Jefferson, publicly Anglican at the time, called our human rights “sacred.” Franklin, like many Founding Fathers keenly aware of historic religious tyranny, substituted “self-evident,” meaning not related to Christianity or any organized religion. Contrary to Christian Nationalists today, Jefferson’s late in life “wall of separation of church and state” made it clear that he and the Declaration drafters intended a country open to all faiths — including faith in reason alone.
Tom Huening
San Mateo
The letter writer is a former county supervisor, controller and author of “Thomas Jefferson’s Bible.”
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.